A composition of nucleic acid sequences, specific for inflammatory disease, in particular rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a composition of nucleic acid sequences specific for inflammatory diseases, in particular rheumatoid arthritis, to a matrix on which such composition has been immobilized and to uses of such composition and/or matrix.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a composition of nucleic acid sequences specific for inflammatory diseases, in particular rheumatoid arthritis, to a matrix on which such composition has been immobilized and to uses of such composition and/or matrix.

[0002] There is a wealth of inflammatory diseases, which are characterized by a reaction of the body's immune system. Such diseases may contribute to a significant loss of life expectancy and to a loss of well being in the affected individual. Such diseases include, amongst others rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, colitis, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus. In the past, the treatment of such inflammatory diseases has been very unspecific and was based on broad-spectrum imuno suppressive drugs, such as steroids. One disadvantage of such treatment was the considerable number of side effects associated with such steroids. As of more recently, a certain progress has been made in that more specific drugs and agents have been identified that allow the systematic and specific blocking of known targets in the inflammatory reactions involved in these diseases. One of the better approaches of this kind has been a blockage of TNF-α, which had previously been identified as one of the body's signalling molecules allowing the transmittance of information from one cell to another within the body. TNF-α is a member of the so-called cytokine-family. Cytokines, such as TNF-α play an essential role in normal immunity, but in certain diseases, their levels are increased beyond a "normal" level and thus lead to a potentially deleterious reaction. In some of the aforementioned diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, use of TNF-α blocking agents has been observed, to some extent, to lead to an improvement in the condition of the respective patent being treated.

[0003] Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes pain, and swelling, in the lining of a joint and/or internal organs. In other words, it causes an inflammation reaction. This inflammation reaction separates RA from other more common forms of arthritis such as osteoarthritis. RA is a chronic disease, affecting many joints in the body, and results in damage to cartilage, bone, tendons and ligaments. It is presently believed, that the inflammation reaction associated with RA, is triggered by the body's immune system which fails to recognize body tissue as "self", therefore attacks it and leads to a joint damage. Since the immune system's attacking does not stop, the damage deteriorates and ultimately leads to a destruction of cartilage, bone, tendons and ligaments, which, in turn, may lead to a permanent deformity and disability.

[0004] It has so far not been possible to ultimately predict whether or not a patient is developing or going to develop RA, at an early stage. Likewise, it has also not been possible to reliably diagnose RA on molecular levels.

[0005] Accordingly, it was an object of the present invention to provide for means that allow the reliable diagnosis of RA.

[0006] All these objects are solved by a composition comprising at least the following nucleic acid sequences: 213649_at (splicing factor, arginine/serine-rich 7; SEQ ID NO:1), 219607_s_at (membrane-spanning 4-domains, subfamily A, member 4; SEQ ID NO:2), 212179_at (chromosome 6 open reading frame; SEQ ID NO:3), 205239_at (amphiregulin (schwannoma-derived growth factor)) SEQ ID NO:4), 205950_s_at (carbonic anhydrase I) SEQ ID NO:5), 208911_s_at (pyruvate dehydrogenase E-1 beta subunit; SEQ ID NO:6), 211560_s_at (aminolevulinate, delta-, synthase 2; SEQ ID NO:7), 202464_s_at (6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 3; SEQ ID NO:8), and 212706_at (RAS p21 protein activator 4; SEQ ID NO:9), and/or the complementary counterparts thereof, and/or partial sequences thereof comprising 18 contiguous nucleotides or more and/or the complementary counterparts thereof.

[0007] It is to be noted that all "..._at"-identifiers used herein and in the following are Affymetrix identifers, a publicly available database of which has been created by Affymetrix, Inc., USA (see also: NetAffx Analysis Centre: http://www.affymetrix.com/analysis/index.affx).

[0008] In one embodiment, said partial sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1-9 are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:20-28 and oligomers of up to 70 nucleotides
which hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 1 in the region from residue no. 131 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:2 in the region from residue no. 255 to residue no. 33,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:3 in the region from residue no. 409 to residue no. 280,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:4 in the region from residue no. 310 to residue no. 181,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:5 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:6 in the region from residue no. 146 to residue no. 17,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:7 in the region from residue no. 1463 to residue no. 1334,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:8 from residue no. 136 to residue no. 7,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:9 from residue no. 1490 to residue no. 1361. In a preferred embodiment said oligomers are oligomers of 70 nucleotides.

[0009] As used herein the phrase "an oligomer which hybridizes to SEQ ID NO: xxx in the region from residue no. [larger number] to residue no. [smaller number]" is meant to signify that the oligomer thus described has the capability of hybridizing to the indicated SEQ ID NO: in the indicated region. The residue numbers in this context refer to the numbering of residues within the indicated SEQ ID NO:xxx. Because the oligomers are reverse complementary the larger number is quoted first and the smaller number is quoted thereafter. The oligomer's capability to hybridize may be due to the fact that the oligomer is fully complementary to the SEQ ID NO:xxx over all the nucleotides of the oligomer, or there may be some mismatches in some residues of the oligomer which, however, do not lead to a disruption of the hybrid between the oligomer and the SEQ ID NO:xxx under the conditons chosen. Preferred hybridization conditions in the context of the present invention are as listed in the examples.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment the composition according to the present invention comprises one or more of the following additional sequences and/or the complementary counterparts thereof, and/or partial sequences thereof comprising 18 contiguous nucleotides or more and/or complementary counterparts thereof: 205987_at (CD1C antigen, c polypeptide; SEQ ID NO:10), 214280_x_at (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1, SEQ ID NO:11), 218204_s_at (FYVE and coiled-coil domain; SEQ ID NO:12), wherein, preferably, said partial sequences of SEQ ID NO:10-12 are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:29-31 and oligomers of up to 70 nucleotides which hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 10 in the region from residue no. 769 to residue no. 640, or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 11 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1, or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 12 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1.

[0011] In one embodiment, the composition according to the present invention furthermore comprises one or more of the following nucleic acid sequences and/or the complementary counterparts thereof, and/or partial sequences thereof comprising 18 nucleotides or more and/or complementary counterparts thereof:
207332_s_at (transferrin receptor (p90, CD71); SEQ ID NO:13), 203115_at (ferrochelatase; SEQ ID NO:14), 219093_at (hypothetical protein FLJ20701; SEQ ID NO:15), 219714_s_at (calcium channel, (voltage-dependent); SEQ ID NO:16), 221622_s_at (uncharacterized hypothalamus protein HT007; SEQ ID NO:17), 221748_s_at (tensin; SEQ ID NO: 18), and 201890_at (ribonucleotide reductase M2 polypeptide; SEQ ID NO:19), wherein, preferably, said partial sequences of SEQ ID NO:13-19 are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:32-38, and oligomers of up to 70 nucleotides
which hybridize to SEQ ID NO:13 in the region from residue no. 192 to residue no. 63,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:14 in the region from residue no. 204 to residue no. 75,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 15 in the region from residue no. 226 to residue no. 97,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 16 in the region from residue no. 2225 to residue no. 2096,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 17 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 18 in the region from residue no. 4834 to residue no. 4765,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 19 in the region from residue no. 349 to residue no. 220.

[0012] In one embodiment, said complementary counterparts of said partial sequences comprising 18 contiguous nucleotides or more are 9 sets of primers, each set of primers comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each set of primers being able to hybridize to one nucleic acid sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 1-9, such that different sets of primers are able to hybridize to different nucleic acid sequences and all 9 sets of primers in their entirety are able to hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 1-9, said composition further being suitable to be used in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, preferably a polymerase chain reaction, said primers being selected such that the resulting amplification reaction product(s) are 140-260 nucleotides in length. Suitable primers fulfilling these conditions can be designed by someone skilled in the art, using e.g. software tools, like PRIMER (see below).

[0013] Preferably, said 9 sets of primers are SEQ ID NO:39-56.

[0014] In one embodiment, the composition furthermore comprises one to three additional sets of primers, each additional set of primers comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each additional set of primers being able to hybridize to one nucleic acid sequence selected from SEQ ID NO:10-12, such that different sets of primers are able to hybridize to different nucleic acid sequences, said composition further being suitable to be used in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, preferably a polymerase chain reaction, said primers being selected such that the resulting amplification reaction product(s) are 140-260 nucleotides in length, wherein, preferably, said one to three additional sets of primers are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:57-62.

[0015] In one embodiment, said composition furthermore comprises one to seven additional sets of primers, each additional set of primers comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each additional set of primers being able to hybridize to one nucleic acid sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 13-19, such that different sets of primers are able to hybridize to different nucleic acid sequences , said composition further being suitable to be used in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, preferably a polymerase chain reaction, said primers being selected such that the resulting amplification reaction product(s) are 140-260 nucleotides in length, wherein, preferably, said one to seven additional sets of primers are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO: 63-76.

[0016] In one embodiment, said composition further comprises reagents for nucleic acid amplification and a detectable nucleic acid binding agent. By performing PCR, in particular real-rime-PCR on a patient's sample using the inventive composition, one may determine the original amount and/or expression level of any of the marker genes SEQ ID NO: 1-19.

[0017] The objects of the invention are also solved by a solid matrix having a surface on which a nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 1-6 or a nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 7-13 has been immobilized, wherein, preferably, said matrix is a substrate having a surface, preferably a planar substrate.

[0018] In another embodiment, said matrix is a set of beads suitable for use in a high-throughput assay, said beads having surfaces on which said nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 1-6 and/or 7-13 has been immobilized. In one embodiment, on said beads a nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 1-6 or a nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 7-13 has been immobilized. In these embodiments, hybridization events are measured using beads on which nucleic acids, as described, have been immobilized, for capturing target nucleic acids. Such a set of beads can be considered a suspension array system. One commercially available example of such a suspension array system that may be used for the purposes of the present invention is the Bio-Plex® suspension array system of BioRad, as e.g. described in Example 3.

[0019] In instances, where the nucleic acid primers as defined in any of claims 7-12 have been immobilized, it is preferred that these serve as capturing nucleic acids for target nucleic acids, to produce hybridization events in case of matching sequences.

[0020] The objects of the present invention are also solved by the use of the composition according to the present invention and/or of the matrix according to the present invention for in-vitro-diagnosis, prognosis and/or detection of an inflammatory process, in particular an inflammatory disease, in a patient.

[0021] The objects of the present invention are also solved by the use of the composition and the matrix according to the present invention for in-vitro-diagnosis, prognosis and/or detection of an inflammatory process, in particular an inflammatory disease, in a patient, wherein, preferably, said inflammatory process or disease is rheumatoid arthritis, or another chronic inflammatory disease involving monocytes/macrophages.

[0022] In one embodiment, the use according to the present invention serves the purpose of monitoring monocyte/macrophage activation in a body fluid or body tissue of an organism.

[0023] The objects of the present invention are also solved by an in-vitro method of diagnosing an inflammatory disease, in particular rheumatoid arthritis, in a patient, comprising the steps:

• providing a composition according to any of claims 1-13 and/or a matrix according to any of claims 14-16
• providing a body fluid sample of a patient suspected of having an inflammatory disease preferably rheumatoid arthritis,
• contacting said sample with said composition and/or said matrix,
  • establishing conditions that allow a hybridization reaction to take place between the composition of any of claims 1 - 6 or the composition of any of claims 7-12 or the matrix of any of claims 14 - 16, and nucleic acids present in said sample, or
  • establishing conditions allowing a nucleic acid amplification reaction, preferably PCR, to take place, using the primers of the composition according to any of claims 7-13, on nucleic acids present in said sample,
• determining whether any of SEQ ID NO: 1 - 19 have been specifically upregulated or down-regulated in said sample, by the results of said hybridization or said amplification reaction wherein, preferably, said body fluid is blood, plasma, serum or lymph fluid.

[0024] By using a pairwise "comparison expression analysis" (MAS Version 5.0 - Microarray Suite Software of Affymetrix), the present inventors have succeeded in identifying a number of highly specific nucleic acid sequences (SEQ ID NO: 1 - 19) which, in RA in a patient, are specifically either up-regulated (i.e. expression levels higher than in comparative "normal", i.e. healthy subjects) or down-regulated (i.e. expression levels lower than in "normal", i.e. healthy individuals). These specific nucleic acid sequences have so far not been implicated in the pathogenesis of or associated with the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and can be used for the diagnosis of RA. In addition thereto, based on SEQ ID NO: 1 - 19 and using the appropriate software tool (PICKY 2.0.0) the present inventors have also identified a number of reverse complementary oligomers (SEQ ID NO: 20 - 38) and additional oligomers centering around SEQ ID NO: 20 - 38 which hybridize to the regions of SEQ ID NO: 1 - 19 and can therefore also be used for the diagnosis of RA.

[0025] Additionally, based on SEQ ID NO: 1-19 and using the appropriate software tool (the programme PRIMER from the online software package HUSAR), the present inventors have also identified a number of suitable primers for each of SEQ ID NO: 1-19 which can be used in PCR-reactions, preferably real-time-PCR-reaction, by which the presence of one or several of SEQ ID NO: 1-19 and the quantity thereof can be established, thus also enabling the diagnosis of RA. For each of SEQ ID NO: 1-19, the present inventors have identified a set of primers, wherein each set comprises a forward-primer and a reverse primer. More specifically, these primers, for the purposes of the present application are designated as SEQ ID NO: 39-76.

[0026] As used herein, the term "nucleic acid sequence" is meant to designate DNA, RNA or combinations thereof. In a preferred embodiment it refers to DNA.
The term "partial sequence" and "oligomer", as used herein, are used interchangeably.

Specific description of the invention

[0027] In the joints of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, the pannus tissue is characterized by massive infiltration with activated macrophages (Mφ). These cells play a major role in the inflammatory cascade, since they produce a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines (Rooney M, Symons JA, Duff GW.: Interleukin 1 beta in synovial fluid is related to local disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol Int. 10: 217-219, 1990; Brennan FM, Maini RN, Feldmann M.: TNF alpha--a pivotal role in rheumatoid arthritis? Br. J..Rheumatol.. 31: 293-298, 1992). In addition to tissue Mφ, circulating monocytes (MO) in the peripheral blood of patients with active RA (Hahn G, Stuhlmuller B, Hain N, Kalden JR, Pfizenmaier K, Burmester GR.: Modulation of monocyte activation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by leukapheresis therapy. J Clin Invest. 1993 Mar;91(3):862-70; Stuhlmuller B, Ungethum U, Scholze S, Martinez L, Backhaus M, Kraetsch HG, Kinne RW, Burmester GR.: Identification of known and novel genes in activated monocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2000 Apr;43(4):775-90; Schulze-Koops H, Davis LS, Kavanaugh AF, Lipsky PE.: Elevated cytokine messenger RNA levels in the peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis suggest different degrees of myeloid cell activation. Arthritis Rheum. 1997 Apr;40(4):639-47) and bone marrow precursors of the myelomonocytic lineage are also activated (Thomas R, Lipsky PE.: Dendritic cells: origin and differentiation. Stem Cells. 1996 Mar;14(2):196-206. Papadaki HA, Kritikos HD, Gemetzi C, Koutala H, Marsh JC, Boumpas DT, Eliopoulos GD.: Bone marrow progenitor cell reserve and function and stromal cell function are defective in rheumatoid arthritis: evidence for a tumor necrosis factor alpha-mediated effect. Blood. 2002 Mar 1;99(5):1610-9.Santiago-Schwarz F, Sullivan C, Rappa D, Carsons SE.: Distinct alterations in lineage committed progenitor cells exist in the peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and primary Sjogren's syndrome. J Rheumatol. 1996 Mar;23(3):439-46. Seitz M, Zwicker M, Pichler W, Gerber N.: Activation and differentiation of myelomonocytic cells in rheumatoid arthritis and healthy individuals--evidence for antagonistic in vitro regulation by interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha, granulocyte monocyte colony stimulating factor and interleukin 1. J R heumatol. 1992 Jul;19(7):1038-44.), and spontaneously release interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), prostaglandin E2, and neopterin (Seitz M, Deimann W, Gemsa D.: The influence of synovial fluid from patients with rheumatoid arthritis on the proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes and the prostanoid release from monocytes. Agents Actions. 1981 Dec;11(6-7):606-8 ; Horneff G, Sack U, Kalden JR, Emmrich F, Burmester GR.: Reduction of monocytemacrophage activation markers upon anti-CD4 treatment. Decreased levels of IL-1, IL-6, neopterin and soluble CD14 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis; Clin Exp Immunol. 1993 Feb;91(2):207-13).. In RA, myeloid precursors are characterized by increased numbers of CD14 molecules (Tomita T, Shimaoka Y, Kashiwagi N, Hashimoto H, Kawamura S, Lee SB, Nakagawa S, Shiho O, Hayashida K, Ochi T.: Enhanced expression of CD14 antigen on myeloid lineage cells derived from the bone marrow of patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol. 1997 Mar;24(3):465-9.), and bone marrow stromal cell function are defective probably due to a TNFα-mediated effect (Papadaki et al., Leuk Lymphoma 2002 Apr. 43(4):753-760). Therefore, MO/Mφ play an important role in both local and systemic inflammation of chronic arthritis (Burmester GR, Stuhlmuller B, Keyszer G, Kinne RW.: Mononuclear phagocytes and rheumatoid synovitis: mastermind or workhorse in arthritis? Arthritis Rheum 1997; 40: 5-18.)

[0028] During inflammatory processes, various mediators (such as cytokines and chemokines) regulate the recruitment of MO. In patients with RA, circulating MO may have intrinsic phenotypic abnormalities, as evidenced by enhanced expression of Fc-gamma receptor (Burmester GR, Stuhlmuller B, Keyszer G, Kinne RW.: Mononuclear phagocytes and rheumatoid synovitis: mastermind or workhorse in arthritis? Arthritis Rheum 1997; 40: 5-18.) Once in the tissue, MO undergo the poorly-understood process of transformation to Mφ with altered morphology and function (Shiozawa S, Shiozawa K, Fujita T.: Morphologic observations in the early phase of the cartilage-pannus junction. Light and electron microscopic studies of active cellular pannus. Arthritis Rheum. 1983 Apr;26(4):472-8. Kawanaka N, Yamamura M, Aita T, Morita Y, Okamoto A, Kawashima M, Iwahashi M, Ueno A, Ohmoto Y, Makino H.: CD14+,CD16+ blood monocytes and joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2002 Oct;46(10):2578-86.)

[0029] In RA, synovial Mφ contribute to joint destruction by differentiating into bone-resorbing osteoclasts (Fujikawa Y, Sabokbar A, N eale S , Athanasou N A.: Human osteoclast formation and bone resorption by monocytes and synovial macrophages in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1996 Nov;55(11):816-22. Goldring SR.:Bone and joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis: what is really happening? J Rheumatol Suppl. 2002 Sep;65:44-8. Redlich K, Hayer S, Ricci R, David JP, Tohidast-Akrad M, Kollias G, Steiner G, Smolen JS, Wagner EF, Schett G.: Osteoclasts are essential for TNF-alpha-mediated joint destruction. J C lin Invest. 2002 Nov;110(10):1419-27.) or by releasing cartilage-degrading enzymes (Smeets TJ, Barg EC, Kraan MC, Smith MD, Breedveld FC, Tak PP.: Analysis of the cell infiltrate and expression of proinflammatory cytokines and matrix metalloproteinases in arthroscopic synovial biopsies: comparison with synovial samples from patients with end stage, destructive rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2003 Jul;62(7):635-8. Hansen T, Petrow PK, Gaumann A, Keyszer GM, Eysel P, Eckardt A, Brauer R, Kriegsmann J.: Cathepsin B and its endogenous inhibitor cystatin C in rheumatoid arthritis synovium. J Rheumatol. 2000 Apr;27(4):859-65.) and pro-inflammatory cytokines, e.g., IL-1β and TNFα (Firestein GS, Alvaro-Gracia JM, Maki R, Alvaro-Garcia JM.: Quantitative analysis of cytokine gene expression in rheumatoid arthritis. J Immunol. 1990 May 1;144(9):3347-53. MacNaul KL, Hutchinson NI, Parsons JN, Bayne EK, Tocci MJ: Analysis of IL-1 and TNF-alpha gene expression in human rheumatoid synoviocytes and normal monocytes by in situ hybridization. J Immunol. 1990 Dec 15;145(12):4154-66. Dayer JM, Burger D.: Interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor and their specific inhibitors. Eur Cytokine Netw. 1994 Nov-Dec;5(6):563-71. Miossec P.: An update on the cytokine network in rheumatoid arthritis. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2004 May;16(3):218-222.). TNFα is derived primarily from activated MO/Mφ and TNFα promotes the synthesis of other proinflammatory cytokines, stimulates endothelial cells to express adhesion molecules, and accelerates the synthesis of metalloproteinases(Choy EH, Panayi GS.: Cytokine pathways and joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. N Engl J Med. 2001 Mar 22;344(12):907-16.).

[0030] Novel microarray strategies are rapidly improving the view on the molecular complexity of chronic diseases and offer more insight into the complexity of gene regulation in RA. Whole-genome microarray approaches are useful to detect the whole gene-transcription levels in cells, and can be specifically aimed at detecting RA-MO relevant or triggered genes,

[0031] The possibility of measuring gene expression simultaneously for many thousands of genes represents a challenge in terms of analysis and interpretation. A number of approaches have been proposed and employed in ranking genes according to predictive strength in univariate contexts (Dhanasekaran et al. 2001; Tusher et al. 2001).

[0032] In this application, reference is made at various places to sequences SEQ ID NO: 1-19 and 20 - 38, 39-76. The nucleic acid sequences are referred to by their Probe Set ID which more specifically is an entry from the Affymetrix database, publicly available from Affymetrix, Inc., USA

[0033] More specifically,

SEQ ID NO:1 is 213649_at (splicing factor, arginine/serine-rich 7; SEQ ID NO:1),

SEQ ID NO:2 is 219607_s_at (membrane-spanning 4-domains, subfamily A, member 4; SEQ ID NO:2),

SEQ ID NO:3 is 212179_at (chromosome 6 open; SEQ ID NO:3),

SEQ ID NO:4 is 205239_at (amphiregulin (schwannoma-derived growth factor)),

SEQ ID NO:5 is 205950_s_at (carbonic anydrase I),

SEQ ID NO:6 is 208911_s_at (pyruvate dehydrogenase E-1 beta subunit),

SEQ ID NO:7 is 211560_s_at (aminolevulinate, delta-, synthase 2),

SEQ ID NO:8 is 202464_s_at (6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 3),

SEQ ID NO:9 is 212706_at (RAS p21 protein activator 4),

SEQ ID NO:10 is 205987_at (CD1C antigen, c polypeptide),

SEQ ID NO:11 is 214280_x_at (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1),

SEQ ID NO:12 is 218204_s_at (FYVE and coiled-coil domain),

SEQ ID NO:13 is 207332_s_at (transferrin receptor (p90, CD71),

SEQ ID NO:14 is 203115_at (ferrochelatase protoporphyria);

SEQ ID NO:15 is 219093_at (hypothetical protein FLJ20701),

SEQ ID NO:16 is 219714_s_at (calcium channel, voltage-dependent),

SEQ ID NO:17 is 221622_s_at (uncharacterized hypothalamus protein HT007),

SEQ ID NO: 18 is 221748_s_at (tensin),

SEQ ID NO: 19 is 201890_at (ribonucleotide reductase M2 polypeptide),

and SEQ ID NO: 20 - 38 are the reverse complementary oligomer sequences hybridizing to SEQ ID NO: 1 - 19, respectively.

[0034] More specifically,

SEQ ID NO: 20 is a 67-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 71 to residue no. 5 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 21 is a 54-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 219 to residue no. 66 of SEQ ID NO: 2.

SEQ ID NO: 22 is a 70-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 379 to residue no. 310 of SEQ ID NO: 3.

SEQ ID NO: 23 is a 61-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 275 to residue no. 215 of SEQ ID NO: 4.

SEQ ID NO: 24 is a 52-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 51 to residue no. 1 of SEQ ID NO: 5.

SEQ ID NO: 25 is a 69-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 115 to residue no. 47 of SEQ ID NO: 6.

SEQ ID NO: 26 is a 64-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 1430 to residue no. 1367 of SEQ ID NO: 7.

SEQ ID NO: 27 is a 61-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 101 to residue no. 41 of SEQ ID NO: 8.

SEQ ID NO: 28 is a 69-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 1459 to residue no. 1391 of SEQ ID NO: 9.

SEQ ID NO: 29 is a 68-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 738 to residue no. 671 of SEQ ID NO: 10.

SEQ ID NO: 30 is a 64-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 66 to residue no. 3 of SEQ ID NO: 11.

SEQ ID NO: 31 is a 70-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 92 to residue no. 23 of SEQ ID NO: 12.

SEQ ID NO: 32 is a 55-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 154 to residue no. 100 of SEQ ID NO: 13.

SEQ ID NO: 33 is a 66-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 172 to residue no. 107 of SEQ ID NO: 14.

SEQ ID NO: 34 is a 65-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 193 to residue no. 129 of SEQ ID NO: 15.

SEQ ID NO: 35 is a 51-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no.2185 to residue no. 2135 of SEQ ID NO: 16.

SEQ ID NO: 36 is a 63-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 71 to residue no. 9 of SEQ ID NO: 17.

SEQ ID NO: 37 is a 70-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 4864 to residue no. 4795 of SEQ ID NO: 18,

SEQ ID NO: 38 is a 68-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 318 to residue no. 251 of SEQ ID NO: 19,

SEQ ID NO: 39 and 40 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 1,

SEQ ID NO: 41 and 42 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 2,

SEQ ID NO: 43 and 44 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 3,

SEQ ID NO: 45 and 46 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 4,

SEQ ID NO: 47 and 48 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 5,

SEQ ID NO: 49 and 50 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 6,

SEQ ID NO: 51 and 52 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 7,

SEQ ID NO: 53 and 54 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 8,

SEQ ID NO: 55 and 56 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 9,

SEQ ID NO: 57 and 58 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 10,

SEQ ID NO: 59 and 60 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 11,

SEQ ID NO: 61 and 62 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 12,

SEQ ID NO: 63 and 64 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 13,

SEQ ID NO: 65 and 66 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 14,

SEQ ID NO: 67 and 68 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 15,

SEQ ID NO: 69 and 70 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 16,

SEQ ID NO: 71 and 72 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 17,

SEQ ID NO: 73 and 74 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 18,

SEQ ID NO: 75 and 76 are the preferred forward and reverse primer, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 19,

[0035] Furthermore reference is made to the following examples which are given to illustrate, not to limit the present invention.

Examples

Example 1

Patients

[0036] Purified monocytes (MO) derived from RA patients prior to treatment and during treatment with the human monoclonal antibody adalimumab were used. Details are summarized as follows: Probes derived from RA patients have been treated with a adalimumab weekly dosage of 20mg or a two weekly dosage of 40mg. Up to 10 mg low dose steroids were given weekly or equally all two weeks. Treatment extended over 2 years. Patients with RA (n=7; all females, age 54 ± 10.7 years (mean ± SD) were classified according to the 1987 revised American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria (Hochberg MC, Chang RW, Dwosh I, Lindsey S, Pincus T, Wolfe F.: The American College of Rheumatology 1991 revised criteria for the classification of global functional status in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 35: 498-502, 1992) and underwent treatment with adalimumab (20 mg per week or 40 mg every 2 weeks in the outpatient Rheumatology Clinic of the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany. Patients underwent clinical and laboratory investigations.

[0037] Peripheral blood (30 to 35 ml) was obtained by venipuncture, immediately stored in heparin-containing vacutainers (Beckton-Dickinson, Rutherford, NJ, USA), and cooled to 4°C. Blood samples were subjected to a Ficoll-Hypaque gradient (d=1.077 g/ml; Biochrom, Berlin, Germany). To enrich MO, negative selection magnetic cell sorting (MACS; Miltenyi; Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) was subsequently applied. Purification of MO was spot tested by FACS analysis using CD14 and CD45 antibodies (Beckman-Coulter, Krefeld, Germany) addicting MO purities of (83-90%). Performing viability tests, 98% of purified MO were vital using propidiumiodide staining (Pharmingen, San-Diego, CA, USA). All steps of MO preparation were performed at 4°C. After purification MO, cells were lyzed in 4M RLT-buffer and RNA was purified using the RNeasy mini elute kit (Quiagen, Düsselforf, Germany). Quantification and quality control of RNA was performed in a Bioanalyzer 2100 unit (Agilent, Palo Alto, USA) at 260/280nm.

RNA amplification and labeling

[0038] For target synthesis starting from 500ng of total RNA, an initial round of amplification w as performed before synthesis of biotin-labeled cRNA. For the first round of amplification, synthesis of first- and second-strand cDNA was performed using the standard protocol provided by the manufacturer (Affymetrix, USA). Instead of proceeding to use the double-stranded cDNA in the biotin-labeled in vitro transcription reaction, the cDNA was resuspended in 8 µl of RNase-free water and used as a template to transcribe unlabeled antisense RNA (aRNA) using T7-RNA polymerase and the Megascript kit (Ambion, Cambridgeshire, UK). The reaction was incubated for 4 hours at 37°C and the resulting aRNA was purified using RNeasy spin columns (Quiagen; Hilden, Germany). Eluted aRNA was precipitated by adding 0.1 volume of 7.5 mol/L ammonium acetate, 0.02 volumes of 5 mg/ml linear acrylamide (Ambion; Huntingdon, UK), and 2.5 volumes of 100% ethanol, and resuspended in 10 µl of RNase-free water. A second round of amplification was initiated by using the aRNA as template. After annealing aRNA with 0.7 µmol/L random hexamers (TibMolBiol; Berlin, Germany) for 10 minutes at 70°C, the mixture was chilled on ice and extended in a 20-µl reaction containing 4 µl of 5x first-strand reaction buffer, 2 µl of 0.1 mol/L dithiothreitol, 1 µl of 10 mmol/L dNTPs, and 1 µl of Superscript II (Stratagene; Heidelberg, Germany). After a 1-hour incubation at 42°C, 1 µl of 2 U/ml of RNase H was added, incubated for 20 minutes at 37°C, and inactivated at 95°C for 5 minutes. The resulting first-strand cDNA was annealed to 100 pmol of high performance liquid chromotography (HPLC)-purified T7T₂₄ primer (Tib Molbiol; Berlin, Germany) for 10 minutes at 70°C. Then, second-strand cDNA synthesis was performed by adding 90 µl of RNase-free water, 30 µl of 5x second-strand reaction buffer, 3 µl of 10 mmol/L dNTPs, 10 U DNA ligase, 40 U DNA polymerase, and 2 U of RNase H. After incubating the second-strand cDNA reaction for 2 hours at 16°C, 20 U of T4 DNA polymerase were added, followed by incubation at 16°C for 10 minutes. The second-strand cDNA synthesis was stopped by adding 10 µl of 0.5 mol/L ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Double-stranded cDNA was purified by phenol:chloroform:isoamyl alcohol extraction using phase-lock-gel (Eppendorf; Hamburg, Germany), precipitated with 0.5 volumes of 7.5 mol/L ammonium acetate, 2 µg of glycogen, and 2.5 volumes of 100% ethanol, and resuspended in 22 µl of RNase-free water (Ambion).

Labelling of cRNA and Gene-Chip Hybridization

[0039] Biotinylated or aminoallyl-labelled cRNA target was generated from both amplified cRNAs using the Bioarray high-yield transcription kit (Enzo, New York, NY) or the aminoallyl-label kit (Ambion, UK) following the manufacturer's protocols. After a 5-hour incubation at 37°C, the final biotin-labelled cRNA product was purified using RNeasy spin columns (Qiagen) and eluted in 40 µl of RNase-free water. The concentration of biotin-labeled cRNA was determined by UV absorbance and was analyzed for quality using the bioanalyzer 2100 (Agilent). In a 11 cases, 15ug of each biotinylated c RNA preparation was fragmented, assessed by g el electrophoresis, and placed in a hybridization cocktail containing four biotinylated hybridization controls (BioB, BioC, BioD, and Cre) as recommended by the manufacturer (Affymetrix). Samples were fragmented to 200 nucleotides or less, heated at 99°C for 5 min and hybridized for 16 h at 45°C to Hg_U133A microarrays. The microarrays and stained with streptavidin-phycoerythrin. Samples were hybridized to Affymetrix test and HG-U133A GeneChip arrays for 16 hours. GeneChips were washed at low (6X SSPE) and high (100mM MES, 0.1M NaCl) stringency and stained using the instrument's standard Eukaryotic GE Wash 2' protocol, using antibody-mediated signal amplification according to the instructions of the manufacturer (Affymetrix). Scanning of test and HgU133 arrays was performed in an GeneArray 2500A (Agilent, Palo Alto, CA, USA) at 3um resolution and an excitation at 570 nm.

Data Analysis

[0040] The microarray images from the scanned chips were processed using the Affymetrix standard scanning Microarray Analysis Suite 5.0 (MAS 5.0). In the first set of validation experiments the image from each GeneChip was individually scaled such that the average intensity value for all arrays and was adjusted to scaling factor 150. Scaled average difference value, log average ratio, and absolute call data from each chip were exported to flat text files and used for numerical analysis. For analysis of clinical specimens, chip images were normalized to the healthy donor samples, across all probe pair sets. Difference call, fold change, average difference value, and absolute call data from each of the three specimen pairs analyzed were exported to flat text files. SOM clustering was performed using the Affymetrix DMT software.

[0041] Hierarchical clustering and PAM analysis was performed using the Affymetrix MAS 5.0 or the Genesis software solution (http://genome.tugraz.at/Software/ GenesisCenter.html).

Normalization of array data

[0042] Normalization by correction of technical variation among individual microarray hybridizations was conducted using a two-step normalization procedure described in detail elsewhere (Dozmorov I, Centola M.: An associative analysis of gene expression array data.Bioinformatics. 2003 Jan 22;19(2):204-11.). This procedure is based on the fact that spot intensities from genes not expressed by the samples of interest constitute noise and are therefore normally distributed. The method models the signals from non-expressed genes to a normal distribution with a mean of 0 and standard deviation (SD) of 1, using an iterative nonlinear curve-fitting procedure.

Analysis of differentially expressed genes in the RA patient and ND groups

[0043] These analyses are performed using standard statistical analysis methods in MAS 5.0 software and include:

1. Selection of statistically different levels of expression using the Student's t-test with the commonly accepted significance threshold of P < 0.05. Because of the large number of genes present on microarrays, a significant proportion of genes identified as differentially expressed in this manner will be false positive determinations at this threshold level.

2. An associative t-test, in which the replicated residuals for each gene in the experimental group are compared with the entire set of residuals from the reference group (defined above). The hypothesis t hat gene expression in the experimental group, p resented as replicated r e-siduals (deviations from averaged control-group profile), is distributed similarly to the several thousand members of the normally distributed set of residuals for gene expressions in the reference group is tested. The significance threshold is corrected to 1/(number of genes) to make it improbable that false positives arise. Only genes with P-values below the threshold of both the Student's t-test and the associative t-test are then presented in tables as differentially expressed genes. Relative ratios of expression for genes that are differentially expressed above background in both groups are calculated.

3. Genes expressed distinctively above background in one group and not in another are defined as uniquely expressed genes.

Example 2

Results:

Patients, study details, clinical and laboratory assessments, and normal donors:

[0044] Purified MO derived from RA patients selected from the Abbott DE011 clinical trial study were used. Gene expression analyses were perfomed using MO from 7 RA-patient MO's prior to and during anti-TNFα treatment and compared to the MO gene expression from 7 normal donors. ACR50 criteria and EULAR defined ACR28 criteria based on the 28 joint count modified disease activity score (Prevoo ML, van 't Hof MA, Kuper HH, van Leeuwen MA, van de Putte LB, van Riel PL.: Modified disease activity scores that include twenty-eight-joint counts. Development and validation in a prospective longitudinal study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1995,38: 44-48.van Gestel AM, Prevoo ML, van 't Hof MA, van Rijswijk MH, van de Putte LB, van Riel PL.: Development and validation of the European League Against Rheumatism response criteria for rheumatoid arthritis. Comparison with the preliminary American College of Rheumatology and the World Health Organization/International League Against Rheumatism Criteria. Arthritis Rheum. 1996 Jan;39(1):34-40.) were calculated. All 7 RA-patients were rheumatoid factor positive. There was no significant correlation of RF and anti-nuclear autoantibody (ANA) titers.

MO separation and RNA preparation

[0045] Patient and normal donor blood samples (25-40ml) were obtained by venopucture after patient clinical sessions and cooled on ice immediately. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were enriched by ficoll hypaque (Biocoll; Biochrom, Berlin, Germany) density gradient centrifugation. MO preparation included equally 7 samples from normals, RA patients prior to and during adalulimab treatment. Untouched MO were purified using negative magentic cell sorting (MACS) and 1.7-4.2 x10⁶ MO with purity ranges from 86-90% tested by FACS analysis using a anti-CD14 / anti-CD45 antibody mix were obtained. Performing viability tests, 98% of purified MO were vital using propidiumiodide staining. Approximately 1.5-3.2ug total MO-RNA from age matched female ND and RA-patients.

Affymetrix gene expression profiling and analysis

[0046] Differentially gene expression in MO from normals (n=7) (i.e. healthy humans not affected by RA) and from real RA patients (n=7) was perfomed using genome wide Affymetrix HG-U133A screening representative of ~22,000 genes. RNA extracted from these cases was converted into labeled cRNA and hybridized to the microarrays. After normalization using MAS v5.0 hierarchical clustering analysis using the Genesis WWW platform software (Sturn A, Quackenbush J, Trajanoski Z.: Genesis: cluster analysis of microarray data. Bioinformatics 2002 Jan;18(1):207-8) was performed.

[0047] Expression profiling of MO from patients with RA (n=7) and ND (n=7; Signal log ratio (SLR) ≥1; 21 experiments or mean fold expression revealed differentially expressed genes as defined by group-specific regulation in ≥80% of pairwise "comparison expression analysis" MAS v 5.0. Results were obtained by request to data bank established in FileMaker 6.0.

[0048] Using this method the following genes, summarized in tables 1 and 2, could be identified as being specifically upregulated or downregulated in comparison with healthy "normal" individuals.

[0049] For explanation "SLR" means "signal log ratio", i.e. SLR of 1 means a 2 fold change expression and a SLR of 3.17 means a 9.02 fold change in comparison between two."Mean_Chg_fold_ind" and "Mean_Chg_fold decr" means "mean change fold induced" and "mean change fold decreased";

[0050] "MeanSLR_ind" and "MeanSLR_decr" means "mean SLR induced" and "decreased" respectively.

[0051] "%_Chg_ind" and "%_Chg_decr" mean "percent change induced" and "percent change decreased".

Table 1A: Increased and decreased expressed genes in RA vs. ND

Increased expressed genes in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients vs. Normal donors (ND)
Gene_ID	%_Chg_ind	%_Chg_decr	Mean_Chg_fold ind	Mean_Chg_fold decr	Mean SLR_ind	Mean_SLR_decr
219607_s_at	91.84	0	3.26	-1	1,7	0
205239_at	81.63	4.08	9.61	-2.3	3.27	-1.20
205950_s_at	81.63	4.08	9.02	-1.8	3.17	-0.85
211560_s_at	87.76	4.08	39.52	-2.3	5.3	-1.2
202464_s_at	81.63	0	3.44	-1	1.78	0

Decreased expressed genes in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients vs. Normal donors (ND)
Gene_ID	%_Chg_ind	%_Chg_decr	Mean_Chg_foid ind	Means_Chg_fold decr	Mean SLR_ind	Mean_SLR_decr
213649_s_at	0	100	1	-3.07	0	-1.62
212179_at	2.04	87.76	1.74	-2.35	0.8	-1.23
208911_s_at	0	83.67	1	-1.64	0	-1.72
212706_at	0	83.67	1	-4.87	0	-2.28

Table 1B: Increased and decreased expressed genes in RA vs. ND

Increased expressed genes in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients vs. Normal donors (ND)
Gene_ID	%_Chg_ind	%_Chg_decr	Mean_Chg_fold ind	Means_Chg_fold decr	Mean SLR_ind	Mean_SLR_decr
207332_s_at	81.63	2.04	2.88	-1.62	1.53	-0.70
203115_at	83.67	8.16	5.4	-2.03	2.43	-1.03
221748_s_at	81.63	4.08	6.23	-2.55	2.64	-1.35
201890_at	81.63	8.16	6.64	-2.25	2.73	-1.18

Decreased expressed genes in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients vs. Normal donors (ND)
Gene_ID	%_Chg_ind	%_Chg_decr	Mean_Chg_fold ind	Means_Chg_fold decr	Mean SLR_ind	Mean_SLR_decr
205987_at	0	87.76	1	-3.4	0	-1.77
214280_x_at	0	81.63	1	-1.97	0	-0.98
218204_s_at	0	85.71	1	-2.02	0	-1.01
219093_at	0	85.71	1	-4.05	0	-2.02
219714_s_at	0	83.67	1	-2.77	0	-1.47
221622	0	85.71	1	-1.80	0	-0.90

Table 2A: Gene descriptions

213649_at	Consensus includes gb:AA524053 /FEA=EST /DB_XREF=gi:2264981 /DB_XREF=est:ng33b07.s1 /CLONE=IMAGE:936565 /UG=Hs.184167 splicing factor, arginineserine-rich 7 (35kD)
219607_s_at	gb:NM_024021.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens membrane-spanning 4-domains, subfamily A, member 4 (MS4A4), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=MS4A4 /PROD=membrane-spanning 4-domains, subfamily A, member4 /DB_XREF=gi:13430865 /UG=Hs.325960 membrane-spanning 4-domains, subfamily A, member 4 /FL=gb:AB013102.1 gb:NM_024021.1 gb:AF068288.1 gb:NM_016650.1
212179_at	Consensus includes gb:AW157501 /FEA=EST/DB_XREF=gi:6228902 /DB_XREF=est:au83a02.x1 /CLONE=)MAGE:2782826 /UG=Hs.18368 DKFZP564B0769 protein
205239_at	gb:NM_001657.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens amphiregulin (schwannoma-derived growth factor) (AREG), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=AREG /PROD=amphiregulin (schwannoma-derived growth factor) /DB_XREF=gi:4502198 /UG=Hs.270833 amphiregulin (schwannoma-derived growth factor) /FL=gb:M30704.1 gb:NM_001657.1
205950_s_at	gb:NM_001738.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens carbonic anhydrase I(CA1), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA/GEN=CA1 /PROD=carbonic anhydrase I /DB_XREF=gi:4502516 /UG=Hs.23118 carbonic anhydrase I/FL=gb:M33987.1 gb:NM_001738.1
208911_s_at	gb:M34055.1 /DEF=Human pyruvate dehydrogenase E1-beta subunit mRNA, complete cds. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=PDHB /DB_XREF=gi:190791 /UG=Hs.979 pyruvate dehydrogenase (lipoamide) beta /FL=gb:BC000439.1 gb:BC001924.1 gb:J03576.1 gb:M34479.1 gb:M54788.1 gb:M34055.1 gb:NM_000925.1
211560_s_at	gb:AF130113.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens clone FLB8929 PRO2399 mRNA, complete cds. /FEA=mRNA/PROD=PRO2399 /DB_XREF=gi:11493529 /UG=Hs.79103 cytochrome b5 outer mitochondrial membrane precursor /FL=gb:AF130113.1
202464_s_at	gb:NM_004566.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens 6-phosphofructo-2-kinasefructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=PFKFB3 /PROD=6-phosphofructo-2-kinasefructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 /DB_XREF=gi:4758899/UG=Hs.195471 6-phosphofructo-2-kinasefructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3/FL=gb:D49817.1 gb:AF109735.1 gb:NM_004566.1
212706_at	Consensus includes gb:AB011110.2/DEF=Homo sapiens mRNA for KIAA0538 protein, partial cds. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=KIAA0538 /PROD=KIAA0538 protein /DB_XREF=gi:6635196 /UG=Hs.184367 GTPase activating protein-like

Table 2B: Gene descriptions

205987_at	gb:NM_001765.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens CD1C antigen, c polypeptide (CD1C), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA/GEN=CD1C/PROD=CD1C antigen, c polypeptide /DB_XREF=gi:4502646 /UG=Hs.1311 CD1C antigen, c polypeptide /FL=gb:M28827.1 gb:NM_001765.1
214280_x_at	Consensus includes gb:X79536.1 /DEF=H.sapiens mRNA for hnRNPcore protein A1. /FEA=mRNA /PROD=hnRNPcore protein A1 /DB_XREF=gi:496897 /UG=Hs.249495 heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1
218204_s_at	gb:NM_024513.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens FYVE and coiled-coil domain containing 1 (FYCO1), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA/GEN=FYCO1 /PROD=FYVE and coiled-coil domain containing 1 /DB_XREF=gi:13470091 /UG=Hs.257267 FYVE and coiled-coil domain containing 1 /FL=gb:NM_024513.1
207332_s_at	gb:NM_003234.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens transferrin receptor (p90, CD71) (TFRC), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=TFRC /PROD=transferrin receptor (p90, CD71) /DB_XREF=gi:4507456 /UG=Hs.77356 transferrin receptor (p90, CD71) /FL=gb:NM_003234.1
203115_at	Consensus includes gb:AU152635 /FEA=EST /DB_XREF=gi:11014156 /DB_XREF=est:AU152635 /CLONE=NT2RP3001344 /UG=Hs.26 ferrochelatase (protoporphyria) /FL=gb:NM_000140.1
219093_at	gb:NM_017933.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens hypothetical protein FLJ20701 (FLJ20701), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=FLJ20701 /PROD=hypothetical protein FLJ20701 /DB_XREF=gi:8923631 /UG=Hs.169764 hypothetical protein FLJ20701 /FL=gb:NM_017933.1
219714_s_at	gb:NM_018398.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens calcium channel alpha2-delta3 subunit (HSA272268), mRNA. /FEA=mRNA /GEN=HSA272268 /PROD=calcium channel alpha2-delta3 subunit /DB_XREF=gi:8923764 /UG=Hs.22958 calcium channel, voltage-dependent, alpha 2delta 3 subunit /FL=gb:NM_018398.1
221622_s_at	gb:AF246240.1 /DEF=Homo sapiens HT026 mRNA, complete cds. /FEA=mRNA /PROD=HT026 /DB_XREF=gi:12005514 /UG=Hs.24371 uncharacterized hypothalamus protein HT007 /FL=gb:AF246240.1
221748_s_at	Consensus includes gb:AL046979 /FEA=EST /DB_XREF=gi:5435035 /DB_XREF=est:DKFZp586K0617_s1 /CLONE=DKFZp586K0617 /UG=Hs.9973 tensin
201890_at	Consensus includes gb:BE966236 /FEA=EST /DB_XREF=gi:11771437 /DB_XREF=est:601660172R1 /CLONE=IMAGE:3905920 /UG=Hs.75319 ribonucleotide reductase M2 polypeptide /FL=gb:NM_001034.1

[0052] None of these sequences according to the present invention have so far been implicated in RA. and, in any case, show a % change induced or decreased > 81, which means that in > 81% of RA-patients, these genes are induced or decreased in terms of their expression, a diagnosis accuracy not achieved so far. This is far better than any of the standard means for diagnosis. To ensure the diagnosis of RA especially in conventional diagnosis several patient visits over a time period of minimal half a year will be needed. Therefore, this method is useful to ensure the diagnosis of RA and furthermore the quantitative gene expression levels will also be useful in relation to a individual successful therapy. This will be of particular interest especially if RA is at an early stage, i.e. before an onset of the disease manifests itself in clinically detectable symptoms.

[0053] Furthermore, starting from these sequences of tables 1 and 2, a number of cDNA sequences were identified using the software package "HUSAR (http://genius.embnet.dkfz-heidelberg.de/menu/w2h/w2hdkfz/Onlinezugang (http://genius.embnet.dkfz-heidelberg.de/menu/w2h/w2hdkfz/). The cDNA sequences were read in advanced mode via mode "FETCH" into the inventors' own database using the command "refseq_DNA:Acc.#". Then they were converted from GCG format into FASTA format using the subprogram "Utilities/Export-Import/ ToFastA". The oligo design of the FASTA-sequences was performed with the reverse complementary sequences using the software "PICKY 2.0.0" (http://www.complex.iastate.edu/download/Picky/index.html) using the predefined standard conditions.

[0054] Using this method, oligomers SEQ ID NO:20-38 could be identified which are reverse complementary to stretches of SEQ ID NO:1 - 19. These oligomers are also useful in the reliable and early diagnosis of RA. Because the sequences were tested for differential splicing forms in the mRNA populations using the BLASTn software package of "HUSAR" these sequences as targets will be comparable with cDNA sequences.

[0055] More specifically, SEQ ID NO: 20 is a 67-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 71 to residue no. 5 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

SEQ ID NO: 21 is a 54-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 219 to residue no. 66 of SEQ ID NO: 2.

SEQ ID NO: 22 is a 70-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 379 to residue no. 310 of SEQ ID NO: 3.

SEQ ID NO: 23 is a 61-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 275 to residue no. 215 of SEQ ID NO: 4.

SEQ ID NO: 24 is a 52-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 51 to residue no. 1 of SEQ ID NO: 5.

SEQ ID NO: 25 is a 69-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 115 to residue no. 47 of SEQ ID NO: 6.

SEQ ID NO: 26 is a 64-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 1430 to residue no. 1367 of SEQ ID NO: 7.

SEQ ID NO: 27 is a 61-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 101 to residue no. 41 of SEQ ID NO: 8.

SEQ ID NO: 28 is a 69-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 1459 to residue no. 1391 of SEQ ID NO: 9.

SEQ ID NO: 29 is a 68-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 738 to residue no. 671 of SEQ ID NO: 10.

SEQ ID NO: 30 is a 64-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 66 to residue no. 3 of SEQ ID NO: 11.

SEQ ID NO: 31 is a 70-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 92 to residue no. 23 of SEQ ID NO: 12.

SEQ ID NO: 32 is a 55-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 154 to residue no. 100 of SEQ ID NO: 13.

SEQ ID NO: 33 is a 66-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 172 to residue no. 107 of SEQ ID NO: 14.

SEQ ID NO: 34 is a 65-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 193 to residue no. 129 of SEQ ID NO: 15.

SEQ ID NO: 35 is a 51-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no.2185 to residue no. 2135 of SEQ ID NO: 16.

SEQ ID NO: 36 is a 63-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 71 to residue no. 9 of SEQ ID NO: 17.

SEQ ID NO: 37 is a 70-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 4864 to residue no. 4795 of SEQ ID NO: 18, and

SEQ ID NO: 38 is a 68-mer reverse complementary and thus hybridizing to the region from residue no. 318 to residue no. 251 of SEQ ID NO: 19.

[0056] Furthermore in addition to these SEQ ID NO: 20 - 38, a number of oligomers with up to 70 nucleotides have been identifed which are centered around and complementary to the regions of SEQ ID NO:1 - 19 to which regions the oligomers SEQ ID NO:20 - 38 bind. It can be reasonably assumed that these additional oligomers also are useful in the diagnosis of RA with high reliablility.
More specifically, these oligomers are oligomers of up to 70 nucleotides, preferably of precisely 70 nucleotides
which hybridize to SEQ ID NO:1 in the region from residue no. 131 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:2 in the region from residue no. 255 to residue no. 33,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:3 in the region from residue no. 409 to residue no. 280,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:4 in the region from residue no. 310 to residue no. 181,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:5 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:6 in the region from residue no. 146 to residue no. 17,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:7 in the region from residue no. 1463 to residue no. 1334,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:8 from residue no. 136 to residue no. 7,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:9 from residue no. 1490 to residue no. 1361,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 10 in the region from residue no. 769 to residue no. 640,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 11 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:12 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:13 in the region from residue no. 192 to residue no. 63,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:14 in the region from residue no. 204 to residue no. 75,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:15 in the region from residue no. 226 to residue no. 97,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:16 in the region from residue no. 2225 to residue no. 2096,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 17 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:18 in the region from residue no. 4834 to residue no. 4765,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:19 in the region from residue no. 349 to residue no. 220.

[0057] Furthermore, the present inventors identified a number of preferred primers to be used for PCR-reactions, preferably real-time-PCR-reactions, using the programme PRIMER on the sequences SEQ ID NO: 1-19. More specifically, SEQ ID NO: 39 and 40 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for amplification of SEQ ID NO: 1, resulting in a PCR*-product having a length of 206 nucleotides.

SEQ ID NO: 41 and 42 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively for amplification of SEQ ID NO: 2, resulting in a PCR-amplification-product of 201 nucleotides length,

SEQ ID NO: 43-44 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively for SEQ ID NO: 3, resulting in an amplification product of 203 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 45-46, are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 4, resulting in an amplification product of 208 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 47 and 48 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 5, resulting in amplification product of 238 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 49-50 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 6, resulting in an amplification product of 228 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 51-52 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 3, resulting in an amplification product of 198 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 53-54 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 8, resulting in an amplification product of 231 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 55-56 are preferred forward and reverse primers for SEQ ID NO: 9, resulting, in an amplification product of 228 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 57-58 are preferred forward and reverse primers for SEQ ID NO: 10, resulting, in an amplification product of 224 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 59-60 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 11, resulting in an amplification product of 195 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 61-62 are preferred forward and reverse primers for SEQ ID NO: 12, resulting, in an amplification product of 234 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 63-64 are preferred forward and reverse primers for SEQ ID NO: 13, resulting, in an amplification product of 222 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 65-66 are preferred forward and reverse primers for SEQ ID NO: 14, resulting, in an amplification product of 253 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 67-68 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 15, resulting, in an amplification product of 191 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 69-70 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 16, resulting, in an amplification product of 237 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 71-72 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 17, resulting in an amplification product of 222 nucleotides in length,

SEQ ID NO: 73-74 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 18, resulting in an amplification product of 234 nucleotides in length, and

SEQ ID NO: 75-76 are preferred forward and reverse primers, respectively, for SEQ ID NO: 19, resulting in an amplification product of 219 nucleotides in length.

Example 3

Prototype gene-array

[0058] Customized RA specific MO cDNA or oligomer DNA based microarray includes selected RA-MO specific up and down regulated genes from SEQ ID 1 to SEQ ID 19 which are differentially expressed in RA vs. ND. The prototype(s) microarray(s) is/are designed so that 2 or better more than 8 replicates of each target probe are spotted or printed alongside with positive cDNA or oligomer target samples (housekeeping genes and commercial spike controls), negative controls, and guide dots. Housekeeping genes include 18S RNA (M10098), 28S RNA (U13369),Glycerol-aldehyde-3-phosphatase (M33197), beta-actin (X00351), gamma-actin (X04098), Glucose-6-phosphat dehydrogenase (NM_000402). A preferred protocol with typical hybridization conditions is as follows:

Protocol for Microarray Hybridization of cDNA and Oligo Microarray Slides

Solution Required:

[0059] 

• Pre-Fixing Buffer:
  • 10g BSA
  • 150 ml 20x SSC Solution
  • Fill to 1000 ml with DEPC treated H₂O
• 10 g BSA

  • 10g BSA

  • 150 ml 20x SSC Solution

  • Fill to 1000 ml with DEPC treated H₂O

• Solution 1:
  • 25 ml 20x SSC solution
  • 10 ml 10% SDS solution
  • Fill to 1000 ml with Milli-Q H₂O
• Solution 2:
  • 25 ml 20x SSC solution
  • 1000 µl 10% SDS solution
  • Fill to 1000 ml with Milli-Q water
• Solution 3:
  • 3 ml 20x SSC solution
  • Fill to 1000 ml with Milli-Q water.

Experiment:

[0060] 

1. Use samples prepared according to Microarray labeling short. Doc

2. Turn on water bath to 55°C and one onto 42°C.

3. Pre-warm 45 ml of the pre-fixing buffer at 55°C for 20 mins.

4. Place the slide into a slide holder (Camlab) and place into the pre-fixing buffer. Turn the tube up-side down several times to remove air bubbles.

5. Incubate at 55°C for 1 hour.

6. Fill a 50 ml tube with Milli-Q highly filtered water.

7. Wash the slide in the water by lifting the slide holder up and down (2 times) in the tube containing the water.

8. Remove the slide from the holder, and place the slide into a rack.

9. Centrifuge the slide at 1000 rpm for 5 minutes to dry.

10. Place a Pyrex dish (or 2L beaker) into the microwave and bring water to near boiling, and then place the dish onto a hot plate, and bring to boil.

11. Turn off heat and immerse rack into basin containing boiling water, and leave for 2 minutes.

12. Remove rack, and place the rack into a glass chamber containing 95% Ethanol. Leave for 1 minute.

13. Centrifuge in rack at 1000 rpm for 5 minutes.

14. Fill a 50 ml tube with 45 ml of pre-hybridization buffer and place at 55°C to pre-warm for at least 20 minutes.

15. Add slide to a slide holder and place it into the tube containing pre-hybridization solution tube and incubate at 55°C for 25 minutes.

16. Fill two 50 ml tubes with 40 ml Milli-Q water and one with 100% Ethanol.

17. Remove slide and place into a tube containing Milli-Q water.

18. Raise and lower the slide holder 5 times to wash.

19. Repeat step 18 with second tube of water.

20. Place slide into tube containing 100% ethanol, and raise and lower the slide holder 5 times.

21. Remove and place in rack and centrifuge for 5 minutes at 1000 rpm.

22. Clean the hyb chamber (Array-IT) and remove dust by using compressed air.

23. Place the slide array side up in the hyb chamber.

24. Away from the array, clean a Lifter Slip coverslip (Erie Scientific) with compressed air to remove dust.

25. Place the coverslip onto the slide covering the array area making sure that the white strips are down creating a slight gap between the array and the coverslip.

26. Pipette 38 µl of sample prepared using Microarray Labeling. Doc at the front of the coverslip (half at each end, capillary action will take sample under).

27. Make sure no air bubbles are present and the whole array is covered.

28. Add 20 µl of3 x SSC into each end of a chamber once cleaned with Mill-Q water.

29. Close the hybridization chamber clamp lid down tightly (use screw driver if necessary).

30. Place whole apparatus in a water bath or oven at 42°C.

31. Leave ON (at least 10 hours).

32. Fill one 50 ml falcon tube with solution 1.

33. Add the slide to the tube, and shake off the cover slip by lifting the slide up and down.

34. Fill one glass box was filled with Solution 1, one with solution 2 and one with solution 3.

35. The rack was placed in the box containing solution 1.

36. Place the slide into the rack in the chamber filled with solution 1.

37. Cover the box with tin foil.

38. The whole box should then be placed on the shaker for 4 minutes mixing at a gentle speed.

39. Remove the rack and place in the box containing solution 2, cover the box with tin foil. Shake again for 4 minutes.

40. Remove the rack and place in the box containing solution 3, cover the box with tin foil. Shake again for 4 minutes.

41. Remove the rack, and centrifuge for 5 minutes at 1000 rpm (large Heraeus Megafuge).

42. Once dry place in dark box and take to scanner.

[0061] In exchange for a "standard" nucleic acid chip/microarray as described further above, a suspension array system may be used for the present invention. Such a suspension array system comprises beads on which capture nucleic acids have been immobilized. Hybridization events between a capture nucleic acid and a target nucleic acid can be detected e.g. using fluorimetry. One example of such a suspension array system is the Bio-Plex suspension array system.

[0062] The Bio-Plex suspension array system utilizes Luminex xMAP technology to permit the multiplexing of up to 100 different assays within a single sample. The system uses a liquid suspension array of 100 sets of 5.6 µm beads, each internally dyed with different ratios of two spectrally distinct fluorophores to assign it a unique spectral address. Each set of beads can be conjugated with a different capture molecule. The conjugated beads can then be mixed and incubated with sample in a microplate well to react with specific analytes. Capture molecules can include enzyme substrates, DNA, receptors, antigens, and antibodies. To detect and quantitate each captured analyte, a fluorescently labeled reporter molecule that specifically binds the analyte is added. Following incubation, the contents of each microplate well are drawn into the Bio-Plex array reader, and precision fluidics align the beads in single file through a flow cell, where two lasers excite the beads individually. One excites the dyes in each bead, identifying its spectral address, and the other excites the reporter molecule associated with the bead, which allows quantitation of the captured analyte. High-speed digital signal processors and Bio-Plex Manager software record the fluorescent signals simultaneously for each bead, translating the signals into data for each bead-based assay.

Example 4

[0063] RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) is the most sensitive technique for mRNA detection and quantitation currently available. Compared to the two other commonly used techniques for quantifying mRNA levels, Northern blot analysis and RNase protection assay, RT-PCR can be used to quantify mRNA levels from much smaller samples. In fact, this technique is sensitive enough to enable quantitation of RNA from a single cell and is used in several standard routine diagnostics.

[0064] In the present invention, real-time polymerase chain reaction with single or complex reaction may be used in order to detect and quantify levels of regulation of genes, which means that gene primers to the SEQ IDs 1 - 9 and SEQ IDs 10 - 19 e.g. some or all of the primers of SEQ IDNO: 39-76 will be used for monitoring differential gene expression and hence diagnosis of RA. Preferentially the length of amplified product is 140-260 nucleotides. For quantification of differential gene expression Thereby Taqman technology by primer quenching techniques or by incooperation of SYBR green marked nucleotides is preferred. TaqMan or molecular Beacon probes depend on the 5'- nuclease activity of the DNA polymerase used for PCR to hydrolyze an oligonucleotide that is hybridized to the target amplicon.

SYBR Green for detecting and quantitating PCR-products in real-time reactions

[0065] SYBR Green provides the simplest and most economical format for detecting and quantitating PCR products in real-time reactions. SYBR Green binds double-stranded DNA, and upon excitation emits light. Thus, as a PCR product accumulates, fluorescence increases. The advantages of SYBR Green are that it is inexpensive, easy to use, and sensitive. The disadvantage is that SYBR Green will bind to any double-stranded DNA in the reaction, including primer-dimers and other non-specific reaction products, which results in an overestimation of the target concentration. For single PCR product reactions with well designed primers, SYBR Green can work extremely well, with spurious non-specific background only showing up in very late cycles.

[0066] SYBR Green is the most economical choice for real-time PCR product detection. Since the dye binds to double-stranded DNA, there is no need to design a probe for any particular target being analyzed. However, detection by SYBR Green requires extensive optimization. Since the dye cannot distinguish between specific and non-specific product accumulated during PCR, follow up assays are needed to validate results.

TaqMan probes

[0067] TaqMan probes are an alternative means which may be used to detect and quantitate real-time PCR-products. TagMan oligonucleotides that have a fluorescent reporter dye attached to the 5' end and a quencher moeity coupled to the 3' end. These probes are designed to hybridize to an internal region of a PCR product. In the unhybridized state, the proximity of the fluor and the quench molecules prevents the detection of fluorescent signal from the probe. During PCR, when the polymerase replicates a template on which a TaqMan probe is bound, the 5'-nuclease activity of the polymerase cleaves the probe. This decouples the fluorescent and quenching dyes and Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) no longer occurs. Thus, fluorescence increases in each cycle, proportional to the amount of probe cleavage

Molecular Beacons

[0068] Alternatively, for the detection and quantitation of real-time PCR products, Molecular Beacons may be used. Like TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons also use FRET to detect and quantitate the synthesized PCR product via a fluor coupled to the 5' end and a quench attached to the 3' end of an oligonucleotide substrate. Unlike TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons are designed to remain intact during the amplification reaction, and must rebind to target in every cycle for signal measurement. Molecular Beacons form a stem-loop structure when free in solution. Thus, the close proximity of the fluor and quench molecules prevents the probe from fluorescing. When a Molecular Beacon hybridizes to a target, the fluorescent dye and quencher are separated, FRET does not occur, and the fluorescent dye emits light upon irradiation.

[0069] Molecular Beacons, like TaqMan probes, can be used for multiplex assays by using spectrally separated fluor/quench moieties on each probe. As with TaqMan probes, Molecular Beacons can be expensive to synthesize, with a separate probe required for each target.

[0070] The features of the present invention disclosed in the specification, the claims and/or in the accompanying drawings, may, both separately, and in any combination thereof, be material for realising the invention in various forms thereof.

Claims

1. A composition comprising at least the following nucleic acid sequences: 213649_at (splicing factor, arginine/serine-rich 7; SEQ ID NO:1), 219607_s_at (membrane-spanning 4-domains, subfamily A, member 4; SEQ ID NO:2), 212179_at (chromosome 6 open reading frame; SEQ ID NO:3), 205239_at (amphiregulin (schwannoma-derived growth factor)) SEQ ID NO:4), 205950_s_at (carbonic anhydrase I) SEQ ID NO:5), 208911_s_at (pyruvate dehydrogenase E-1 beta subunit; SEQ ID NO:6), 211560_s_at (aminolevulinate, delta-, synthase 2; SEQ ID NO:7), 202464_s_at (6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase 3; SEQ ID NO:8), and 212706_at (RAS p21 protein activator 4; SEQ ID NO:9), and/or the complementary counterparts thereof, and/or partial sequences thereof comprising 18 contiguous nucleotides or more and/or the complementary counterparts thereof.

2. Composition according to claim 1, wherein said partial sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1-9 are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:20-28 and oligomers of up to 70 nucleotides
which hybridize to SEQ ID NO:1 in the region from residue no. 131 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:2 in the region from residue no. 255 to residue no. 33,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:3 in the region from residue no. 409 to residue no. 280,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:4 in the region from residue no. 310 to residue no. 181,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:5 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:6 in the region from residue no. 146 to residue no. 17,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:7 in the region from residue no. 1463 to residue no. 1334,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:8 from residue no. 136 to residue no. 7,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:9 from residue no. 1490 to residue no. 1361.

3. Composition according to any of claims 1-2, furthermore comprising one or more of the following additional sequences: 205987_at (CD1C antigen, c polypeptide; SEQ ID NO:10), 214280_x_at (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1, SEQ ID NO:11), 218204_s_at (FYVE and coiled-coil domain; SEQ ID NO:12), and/or the complementary counterparts thereof, and/or partial sequences thereof comprising 18 contiguous nucleotides or more and/or complementary counterparts thereof.

4. Composition according to claim 3 wherein said partial sequences of SEQ ID NO:10-12 are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:29-31 and oligomers of up to 70 nucleotides
which hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 10 in the region from residue no. 769 to residue no. 640,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 11 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 12 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1.

5. Composition according to any of the foregoing claims, furthermore comprising one or more of the following nucleic acid sequences:
207332_s_at (transferrin receptor (p90, CD71); SEQ ID NO:13), 203115_at (ferrochelatase; SEQ ID NO:14), 219093_at (hypothetical protein FLJ20701; SEQ ID NO:15), 219714_s_at (calcium channel, (voltage-dependent); SEQ ID NO:16), 221622_s_at (uncharacterized hypothalamus protein HT007; SEQ ID NO:17), 221748_s_at (tensin; SEQ ID NO: 18), and 201890_at (ribonucleotide reductase M2 polypeptide; SEQ ID NO: 19), and/or the complementary counterparts thereof, and/or partial sequences thereof comprising 18 nucleotides or more and/or complementary counterparts.

6. Composition according to claim 5, wherein said partial sequences of SEQ ID NO:13-19 are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:32-38 and oligomers of up to 70 nucleotides
which hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 13 in the region from residue no. 192 to residue no. 63,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:14 in the region from residue no. 204 to residue no. 75,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:15 in the region from residue no. 226 to residue no. 97,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 16 in the region from residue no. 2225 to residue no. 2096,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 17 in the region from residue no. 130 to residue no. 1,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO:18 in the region from residue no. 4834 to residue no. 4765,
or hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 19 in the region from residue no. 349 to residue no. 220.

7. Composition according to claim 1, wherein said complementary counterparts of said partial sequences comprising 18 contiguous nucleotides are 9 sets of primers, each set of primers comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each set of primers being able to hybridize to one nucleic acid sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 1-9, such that different sets of primers are able to hybridize to different nucleic acid sequences and all 9 sets of primers in their entirety are able to hybridize to SEQ ID NO: 1-9, said composition further being suitable to be used in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, preferably a polymerase chain reaction, said primers being selected such that the resulting amplification reaction product(s) are 140-260 nucleotides in length.

8. Composition according to claim 7, wherein said 9 sets of primers are SEQ ID NO:39-56.

9. Composition according to any of claims 7-8, furthermore comprising one to three additional sets of primers, each additional set of primers comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each additional set of primers being able to hybridize to one nucleic acid sequence selected from SEQ ID NO:10-12, such that different sets of primers are able to hybridize to different nucleic acid sequences, said composition further being suitable to be used in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, preferably a polymerase chain reaction, said primers being selected such that the resulting amplification reaction product(s) are 140-260 nucleotides in length.

10. Composition according to claim 9, wherein said one to three additional sets of primers are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO:57-62.

11. Composition according to any of claims 7-10, furthermore comprising one to seven additional sets of primers, each additional set of primers comprising a forward primer and a reverse primer, each additional set of primers being able to hybridize to one nucleic acid sequence selected from SEQ ID NO: 13-19, such that different sets of primers are able to hybridize to different nucleic acid sequences , said composition further being suitable to be used in a nucleic acid amplification reaction, preferably a polymerase chain reaction, said primers being selected such that the resulting amplification reaction product(s) are 140-260 nucleotides in length.

12. Composition according to claim 11, wherein said one to seven additional sets of primers are selected from the group comprising SEQ ID NO: 63-76.

13. Composition according to any of claims 7-12, further comprising reagents for nucleic acid amplification and a detectable nucleic acid binding agent.

14. A solid matrix having a surface on which a nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 1-6 or a nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 7-13 has been immobilized.

15. Matrix according to claim 14, which is a substrate having a surface, preferably a planar substrate.

16. Matrix according to claim 14, which is a set of beads suitable for use in a high-throughput assay, said beads having surfaces on which said nucleic acid composition as defined in any of claims 1-6 and/or in any of claims 7-13 has been immobilized.

17. Use of the composition according to any of claims 1-13 and/or of the matrix according to any of claims 14-16 for in-vitro-diagnosis, prognosis and/or detection of an inflammatory process, in particular an inflammatory disease, in a patient.

18. Use according to claim 17, wherein said inflammatory process or disease is rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

19. Use according to claim 17, wherein said inflammatory process or disease is a chronic inflammatory disease, other than rheumatoid arthritis, involving monocytes/macrophages.

20. Use according to any of claims 17-19 for the monitoring of monocyte/macrophage activation in a body fluid or body tissue of an organism.